Advantage Windows & Conservatories | UK trade manufacturer of Rehau PVCu windows, doors and conservatories
PVCu industry news
Advantage Trade Supplies
NEWS from ADVANTAGE TRADE SUPPLIES - 2007
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title ADVANTAGE GOES GREEN

Advantage Windows and Conservatories Ltd, the Cheshire - based trade fabricator has implemented
a new environmental policy that is saving money and reducing the amount of general waste as well
as increasing the amount of recycled waste material.

Advantage's purchasing manager
Kieron Byrne is responsible for the new green
policy and has undertaken a thorough audit
of the company's waste disposal & recycling
activities. Operating four factories and
manufacturing over 2,000 frames and in
excess of 100 conservatory roofs per week,
the company employs just short of 200 staff.

PVCu profile has been collected and recycled
for many years but as the company has grown,
the amount of other materials that need to be
disposed of, such as cardboard, paper and
polythene has dramatically increased.

Prior to the changes, the company was
disposing of its cardboard, paper and general
waste in two skips that were emptied twice a
week and a compactor that was emptied
once a week. The overall costs totalled over
£1,500 per month. Not only was this a high
price to pay for disposing if the company's
waste, it was not particularly environmentally
friendly as there was still a mixing of different
types of waste material.

Kieron Byrne - Advantage's Purchasing Manager
 
  After Kieron's audit, he looked carefully at different solutions. One option was to buy or rent a baleing
machine but this proved uneconomical and labour intensive and so it was decided to bring in a giant
10 metre long metal container. It is only used for pre-flattened cardboard and is large enough to take
everything from all three factories plus the cardboard waste from a neighbouring factory that shares the
cost. He has also organised for all the waste polythene to be bagged and collected by the company that
collects the PVCu off cuts and all the waste paper generated from office activities is collected separately
in special 25 kg bags and taken for recycling.

By carefully looking at how its collects and recycles its waste material, Advantage has made savings
of around £20K per year as well as dramatically increasing the amount of waste material that can be
effectively recycled. "Whatever way you look at it", says Kieron Byrne, "it's a win win situation.
However, we're not stopping there. We are continuing to look at all aspects of how to use our resources
more efficiently including our use of light, power and water. Much more progress can be expected in the
near future."